I created the award-winning Insomnia Radio Network in 2004 and was globally recognized as an early podcasting pioneer. In 2006, Insomnia Radio was awarded Best Podcast by Newsweek Online, and the network was praised in the pages of the New York Times, Wired and CMJ.

Since then, I’ve been entrenched in the video game industry and fascinated with the rapid evolution of the technology surrounding it.

I'm addicted to producing professional web content which aims to simultaneously educate and entertain. My column at Forbes is the culmination of these experiences, and I’ll bring my unique voice, background and skillset to deliver memorable content.

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CES 2013 Preview: The Most Innovative Products To Watch For

The annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is the heartbeat of the tech industry, and the 2013 show is the largest in history with a staggering 1.87 million square feet of silicon, screens, gadgets, and exciting innovations to discover. This year, several Forbes staff writers and contributors will descend upon the Las Vegas Convention Center to give our readers insights, analysis, and technology news straight from the show floor. Check out our complete coverage here.

With that in mind, I’ve compiled a list of who I’m interviewing, which products I’ll be seeing, and most importantly why these particular companies — selected from more than 1,200 exhibitors — are on my calendar.

Vivitouch is a Bayer MaterialScience company, and they’ve created something with the potential to revolutionize the home cinema and video game experience. It’s a bold statement, I know.

Most phones, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 controllers have a vibration feature. Be it scraping a curb in Forza Motorsport 4 or firing a rifle in Call of Duty, vibration does a serviceable job immersing players in the game world, but there’s room for vast improvement.

They’ve developed a technology called ElectroActive Polymer that can be implemented into phones, controllers and headphones.

“In phones and controllers, think about a rumble that can simulate hundreds of different actions,” a company spokesperson told me via email. “A jet feels very different than a race car. A gun feels different than a grenade. A pinball feels different when it hits different bumpers, etc. In headphones, it changes the way sound feels. At the movies or in your home theater you feel the sound through the sub-woofer.”

Basically, their goal is augmenting your HD visuals and HD sound with “high definition feel.” The company has partnered with Able Planet and will be showcasing headphones embedded with the technology.

It’s tricky to wrap your head around it, which is exactly why I’ll be experiencing it first-hand. The potential applications for both the game industry and home theater markets are fun to imagine, especially combined with the next product…

When I say the words “virtual reality” it may conjure up nauseous memories of Nintendo’s VirtualBoy or frightening passages from Stephen King‘s “Lawnmower Man.” Fear not: Palmer Luckey, creator of the Oculus Rift headset, is on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list for a reason.

Birthed from the digital halls of Kickstarter, the Oculus Rift has been praised by John Carmack, Valve boss Gabe Newell, game designer Cliff Bleszinski, Minecraft creator Markus Persson, and nearly every member of the press who’s had the opportunity to try it. The headset’s goal is to give the wearer the kind of Star Trek Holodeck-like immersion we’ve always fantasized over, at a price core gamers can afford.

Simply put, I’m going to try one on and see if the product matches the hype. I’m hoping it does. Stay tuned for my hands-on impressions and interviews with the visionaries at Oculus VR.

Accessory makers are coming out of the woodwork to create traditional gamepads for Android tablets, simply because tablet gaming continues to explode. The people behind the Wikipad have a different idea: Why not fuse together the best of both worlds?

If they can pull it off, it will be a joyous union of touch-screen convenience and traditional console-style controls. The specs are there (nVidia Tegra 3 Quad-Core processor, expandable storage, 8MP camera, HDMI output, GPS, Active Vibration, Android 4.1 etc) and the developer support is mounting. The Wikipad hasn’t yet launched, but it boasts more than 50 compatible games from heavy-hitting mobile developers like Vector Unit, Gameloft, and GAMEVIL.

If the UI is snappy and the comfort level is there, the Wikipad will be one to watch in 2013. Stay tuned for my hands-on impressions.

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Out of the entire list, the Oculus Rift remains my highest-interest piece. Although the 3D printers are a close second, since they can probably build the army of D&D minis I’ve always wanted and haven’t been able to afford.

One Android tablet manufacturer to watch out for in 2013 is Ainol Electronics – which has recently introduced a number of impressive, well-priced models and actually won “runner up” status for “Best Tablet of the Year” at CES 2012 for its first tablet in its Novo Series line of Android devices… One of the first U.S. resellers to carry Novo brand is a site called TabletSprint — In December, the Novo 10 Hero was introduced and is available at TabletSprint for $219 — and is possibly the best full size, 10-inch tablet priced under $300 — with a high resolution 1280×800 IPS screen, 16GB memory, a strong battery and Dual Core processor with Quad Core GPU, front and rear cameras, a MicroSD memory card slot with unlimited storage, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, Google Play with access to 400K+ Apps, a MicroUSB port for connection to printers and other electronic devices, HDMI – to view personal videos and to download movies and watch in full 1080p (HD) on to a large screen TV, WiFi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, and an option for 3G/4G connection. It’s also a great gaming device with its high resolution screen and motion gaming sensor. TabletSprint also offers a 10″ Compact Case with built-in Keyboard ($28) which easily transforms a tablet into a mini-laptop computer.

The Novo 7 Legend also launched in December, which may be considered the first quality “$100 TABLET” actually worth buying — with features that include a quality screen display(800×600), MicroSD storage, Android 4.1 O/S, Google Play, a MicroUSB port, and a processor good enough to handle 3D games — Plus WiFi, Ethernet and options for 3G/4G Connection.

TabletSprint also includes $25 in Bonus Apps with all tablets available through their site, and bundles in free 3G/4G wireless service, with a free 3G/4G USB adapter and 500MB of free data every month with full internet access & VoIP voice calling — With these models just launched last month, it will be interesting to see if Ainol Electronics introduces any new tablets next week that may gain attention at CES.